Washing compound



UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. STARR, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

WASHING COMPOUND.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,161, dated June 3, 1890.

Application filed December 26, 1889. Serial No. 334,971. ($pecimens.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. STARR, a citi zen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ashing Compounds; and -I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Myinvention consists in a certain compound to be used mainly in the washingof textile fabrics, and is composed of the various constituents hereinafter to be named, mixed in about the proportions hereinafter to be specified.

Numerous attempts have been made to do away with a portion of the hard labor in laundry-work by the use of washing-machines and various washing compounds or fluids. These washing-fluids frequently contain chemicals which, while they remove the dirt, also attack and tend to destroy the fiber of the fabric being operated upon.

It is theobject of my invention to produce a compound which shall not only attack and remove all stains and particles of foreign substances which may adhere to the fabric, but shall also have a beneficial effect upon the fiber of the material instead of the usual destructive influences.

The materials out of which I form my washing compound are: Oil of citronella, oleine laundry-soap, (being a soap commonlyknown and sold on the market by that name,) alcohol, mineral oil,and water. These may be mixed in proportions slightly varying between certain limits; but I find the best results are produced when the proportions are as'follows: Eleven ounces of boiling water, one and onehalf ounceof oleine laundrysoap, one-half ounce of alcohol, two and one-half ounces of mineral oil, by Weight, with one and one-half fluid ounce of oil of citronella. This makes about a pint of the compound, which is in color and consistence very like ordinary sweet cream. It preserves the fiber of the article being Washed, and by rendering it pliable strengthens the fabric without causing any shrinkage and leaves the surface smooth and firm.

\Vhen fabrics are boiled in water to which my washing-cream has been added, stains and greasy spots are removed thereby. The saving in labor by the use of my invention is frequently as high as forty per cent. over the ordinary methods, and the saving in soap twenty-five per cent.

The best method of making and compounding my invention is to dissolve well the laundry-soap in the water, which has been raised to boiling-point, and then while the mixture is cooling add at intervals first the alcohol, then the mineral oil, and last the oil of citronella. The mixture should be kept well stirred or shaken while cooling in order to insure a thorough mingling of the compound parts. The mineral oil used should be the best quality of kerosene.

Having therefore described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is-

The improved washing compound consisting of oil of citronella, oleine laundry-soap, alcohol, mineral oil, and water, in the proportions specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES E. STARR.

Witnesses:

HENRY GANSON, E. R. SPAULDING. 

